Ruana v. Grigonis
| Decision Date | 28 March 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-421,95-421 |
| Citation | 275 Mont. 441,913 P.2d 1247 |
| Parties | Dennis RUANA, Robert W. Bielby, Carla J. Bielby, Pam McCoy and Karl Heinz-Finken, Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. Leonard GRIGONIS and Kathy J. Grigonis, Defendants and Appellants. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
Appeal from: District Court of the Twenty-First Judicial District, In and For the County of Ravalli; The Honorable Jeffrey H. Langton, Judge presiding.
Don Torgenrud, St. Ignatius, for appellants.
Zane K. Sullivan; Sullivan & Tabaracci, Missoula, for respondents.
The Grigonises appeal from the Ravalli County, Twenty-first Judicial District Court's Order and Judgment granting Dennis Ruana, Robert W. Bielby, Carla J. Bielby, Pam McCoy and Karl Heinz-Finken, Respondents, summary judgment. The Respondents, Bielby and Ruana, are the developers of "Paradise Acres," Pam McCoy and Karl Heinz-Finken are purchasers of one of the "Paradise Acres" lots which abuts the Grigonis property. Together, the Respondents moved for summary judgment arguing that they have a reserved sixty-foot easement crossing the Grigonises' property as a matter of law. They base their argument on two recent decisions by this Court, Halverson v. Turner (1994), 268 Mont. 168, 885 P.2d 1285, and Bache v. Owens (1994), 267 Mont. 279, 883 P.2d 817. The District Court granted the Respondents' motion. We reverse.
The following issues are presented by the Grigonises:
1. Did the District Court err in holding, as a matter of law, that Respondents have an easement by reservation across a sixty-foot wide private road and public utility easement on the Grigonises' property, where the certificate of survey for Respondents' property does not include or depict the easement nor is it recorded on any other pertinent documents?
2. Are the Grigonises entitled to summary judgment on the issue of easement by prescription?
3. Are the Grigonises entitled to summary judgment on the issue of easement by implication?
4. Are the Grigonises entitled to judgment on the issue of laches?
5. Are the Grigonises entitled to summary judgment on the issue of trespass, based on the Respondents' construction of Blue Sky Lane and the raising of the surface of North Hidden Valley Road?
6. Are the Grigonises entitled to attorney's fees expended in defense of their land?
The property at issue is located in Ravalli County, Montana, and is situated north and south of the section line between Sections 8 and 17 of Township 10 North, Range 19 West, M.P.M. The Respondents allege that they have rights to two easements. The first is a sixty-foot private road and public utility easement running east-west just south of the 8-17 section line. North Hidden Valley Road runs roughly through the center of this easement continuing east to a dead end, and continuing west until it joins the East Side Bitterroot Highway. The second potential easement, Blue Sky Lane, comes off North Hidden Valley Road. Respondents built Blue Sky Lane to access their 56-lot "Paradise Acres" subdivision to the north of North Hidden Valley Road. Blue Sky Lane originates on the Grigonises' property.
The properties owned by the Grigonises and the Respondents were originally contained in a much larger parcel of property, the Cook Ranch. In 1976, the Cooks sold a portion of the ranch to Wilbur and Ila Hensler. The Henslers' property encompassed the parcels now owned by the Grigonises and the Respondents. In 1977, the Henslers sold a portion of their property to John Reely, William Reely, and Delbert Ashmore (Reely-Ashmore). The Henslers to Reely-Ashmore sale included property south of the 8-17 section line including within it the property now owned by the Grigonises. The Henslers retained the property to the north of the 8-17 section line that is now owned by the Respondents. Thus, it was this 1977 sale that split the properties now at issue from single ownership. In 1988, the Grigonises purchased 10.76 acres south of the 8-17 section line from Reely-Ashmore's successors in interest. In 1990, the Henslers sold Respondents approximately 133 acres north of the 8-17 section line, including the land just to the north of the Grigonises. The northern border of the Grigonis property abuts the property of the Respondents.
When the Grigonises purchased their property, there was a grassy strip extending southward approximately fifteen feet from the northern border of their property. The grassy strip contains public utility lines. North Hidden Valley Road abuts the grassy strip to the south and runs roughly down the center of the sixty-foot wide public utility, private road easement. North Hidden Valley Road is a dirt road, approximately twenty to twenty-five feet wide that runs east-west. Both the grassy strip and North Hidden Valley Road fall within the "private road and public utility easement" that extends south sixty feet from the 8-17 section line into the Grigonises' property (see diagram).
The Grigonises acknowledge that when they bought their property it was plainly subject to the North Hidden Valley Road east-west easement. This easement allowed homeowners to the east to access their properties. However, they argue that this easement does not extend north, that is, no easement to the north off of North Hidden Valley Road such as Blue Sky Lane was ever reserved or created.
A fence separates the Respondents' and Grigonises' properties. In 1991, without the Grigonises' permission, Bielby, one of the Respondents, took down the fence and constructed a dirt road, Blue Sky Lane. Blue Sky Lane originates from North Hidden Valley Road in the Grigonises' property and heads north through the grassy strip into Respondents' property. Blue Sky Lane provides access onto North Hidden Valley Road for the 56-lot "Paradise Acres" subdivision.
The Grigonises were unhappy with the construction of Blue Sky Lane on their property and offered to sell Respondents easement rights. Respondents did not reply to the Grigonises' offer and there were no further negotiations. Leonard Grigonis re-erected the fence and posted signs stating that use of Blue Sky Lane was unpermitted trespass. Bielby removed the signs and a portion of the fence and Respondents continued to use Blue Sky Lane as their access to North Hidden Valley Road.
Respondents sought and obtained an injunction to prevent the Grigonises from interfering with Respondents' use of Blue Sky Lane. Respondents asserted easement rights based on a number of theories: easement by reservation, easement by grant, public road by prescription, and easement by necessity, all with the accompanying right to build an access road, i.e., Blue Sky Lane. The Grigonises asserted that Respondents have no easement rights in North Hidden Valley Road, have no right to build an access road to intersect North Hidden Valley Road, and that in building Blue Sky Lane, Respondents wrongfully occupied, trespassed, converted, and physically damaged the Grigonises' property. The Grigonises sought Rule 11, M.R.Civ.P., sanctions against Respondents in the form of attorney's fees and costs, as well as damages under the tort theories of wrongful occupation, trespass, conversion and property damage. The parties filed numerous motions and cross-motions for summary judgment on the following grounds: public prescriptive easement, tortious interference with easement rights, easement by estoppel, trespass, wrongful occupation, easement by grant, easement by reservation, easement by necessity, laches and Rule 11, M.R.Civ.P., sanctions.
Initially, the court denied summary judgment to either party for easement by grant and/or reservation and for public road by prescription; denied both parties summary judgment for laches, tortious interference, trespass and/or wrongful occupation; granted summary judgment in favor of the Grigonises on Respondents' claim of easement by estoppel; dismissed Respondents' claim of easement by necessity and substituted a claim of easement by implication in its place; granted summary judgment to Respondents as to whether any rights to use North Hidden Valley Road automatically included rights to use and build within the entire sixty-foot easement area thereby limiting argument at trial to whether Respondents have rights in the sixty-foot easement containing North Hidden Valley Road, and; granted summary judgment to Respondents for the Grigonises' claims of Rule 11, M.R.Civ.P., violations and abuse of process. The Grigonises sought and were denied a Motion for Reconsideration.
Respondents subsequently filed another motion for summary judgment based on this Court's recent decisions in Halverson v. Turner (1994), 268 Mont. 168, 885 P.2d 1285, and Bache v. Owens (1994), 267 Mont. 279, 883 P.2d 817. After reconsideration, and relying on Halverson and Bache, the District Court granted Respondents' Motion for Summary Judgment on their claim of easement by grant or reservation. The court ruled that Respondents have:
as a matter of public record, a sixty (60') foot road/utility easement by reservation which crosses Defendants' [Grigonises'] property and lies adjacent to Plaintiffs' [Respondents'] property as described in Certificate of Survey 1733. Such easement right includes the accompanying right to build access roads or drive ways, such as Blue Sky Lane, in order to exercise their easement right to use North Hidden Valley Road which lies within the north and south boundaries of their sixty foot easement and any other use consistent with the road and utility purposes of the easement.
The Grigonises appeal the District Court's grant of summary judgment as well as its prior rulings denying their cross-motions for summary judgment.
1. Did the District Court err in holding, as a matter of law, that Respondents have an easement by reservation across a sixty-foot wide private road and public utility easement on the...
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